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Otherwise known as William Fox
Ngatau Omahuru Fox
The William Fox story is quite amazing. It begins deep in the bush during the New Zealand Wars. It heads to the home of the Prime Minister, sails around the world, then back to Parihaka and ends in Lepperton.
This week's tale is grim and even grisly in parts. It's quite surprising and well worth a read.
Rewind to 1868
Were these things really a part of New Zealand's history in the 1860s? You decide by answering true or false. You can check your answers at the end of this week's TreasureLink.
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Thousands of immigrants are arriving in New Zealand.
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The Government pays travel costs for settlers like farm labourers, household servants and mechanics. They travel to New Zealand free of charge.
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Some new settlers are building huge, grand houses.
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Most of the female immigrants are unmarried.
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Maori are losing large chunks of land.
Word watch
All the words and phrases below are in this week's story. Choose the best meaning and then check your choices when you read the story. The answers are at the end of this week's TreasureLink.
- imposter (a) a try-hard or (b) a phony
- bestowed upon him (a) given or gifted to him or (b) attached by law
- a pawn in a political party game (a) someone used for a political party's gain or (b)someone with no rights
- indiscriminate land confiscation (a) buying plots of land here and there or (b) extensive taking of land
- sanction (a) give permission or (b) agree with it
- blubber (a) cry and sob or (b) giggle and laugh
- the demon drink (a) any alcohol or (b) whisky
- preached temperance (a) make sure people do not lose their temper or (b) recommend that people do not drink alcohol
- self centeredness (a) thinking only of yourself or (b) determination
- angst (a) worry or (b) hope
It's war!
This week's story begins in wartime Taranaki. It's 1868. This is real war - bullets and knives, dirty deeds and dead bodies. But how did it get to this? Check out the timeline below.
In 1840 a Treaty is signed at Waitangi. There are a little over 2000 Pakeha settlers in New Zealand.
Fighting begins in the 1840s. There are skirmishes between surveyors, settlers and Maori in Nelson.
War breaks out in the Bay of Islands in 1845. British forces fight Maori in the Northern War. Maori lose about 80 men and the British 300.
Settlers are still arriving. Some have been sold land by people who had no right to sell. Others just want to get on with farming. They want land that Maori own.
There are more land disputes around New Zealand. Maori attack an army stockade in Wellington because it is on Maori land. British capture the great warrior chief Te Rauparaha and fighting stops. There is peace for 13 years but the land problem is still there.
By 1858 there are 50,000 Pakeha and 56,000 Maori in New Zealand. Maori are outnumbered by Pakeha by 3,000.
Most Maori land is owned by the tribe not by individuals. In 1859 a Maori named Teira tries to sell land at the Waitara River but the powerful chief Wiremu Kingi says the land is not his to sell. The government says the land is now sold and the first of the Taranaki wars breaks out. These wars will end in land confiscations. Land is taken from Maori as "a punishment".
This week's story tells of the Hau-hau. They begin as a religious group-The Pai Marire (Good and Peaceful). One of the followers is the warrior chief Titokowaru. He recaptures a lot of confiscated land between Mt Taranaki and Wanganui.
This week's story is from these times.
Into a different world?
The first four words in this week's story say, Look at the photo. Do that and then read about the first part of the story called, "If a picture paints a thousand words."
Do you agree?
- The boy is the photo is an unwilling imposter.
- He's been precisely posed.(placed in exactly the right position for a photo).
- He has a hurt expression.
- He doesn't want to be there.
- Someone has combed his hair.
- Someone has stuck him into a different life.
Who wrote that then?
Read the message again that is on the back of the photo. Who might have written that? Why do you think it is all lies...except the last sentence?
Think, pair and then share your answer with a classmate.
Who do you fight for?
Some Maori fought for the British (Imperial) forces during the war. They were known as the Maori kupapa and there were all sorts of reasons why they joined the British.
For some it was a way of fighting a traditional tribal enemy while others decided that they would be better off in the long run if they fought for, rather than against the British.
Money was another reason - all soldiers were paid wages, times were tough and money meant food.
The next part of the story tells about British and Maori on the same side. They are tracking the Hauhau.
The horror of war
In a small forest clearing and A terrible decision is made tells readers how little Ngatau Omahuru is captured.
Two other children are killed so read these two parts of the story and find out how Ngatau managed to stayed alive.
These days the killing of children would be called an "atrocity of war". There are rules to prevent it happening.
The Geneva Convention is a set of international rules for war. One of these rules says that if people are not part of the hostilities they must be treated humanely. They can't be hurt. They can't even be taken hostage.
Does this mean innocent people just don't get killed today or, would children face as much danger today if caught in a similar situation in war torn Iraq or Afghanistan?
Think, pair and share your answer with a classmate.
Riding into battle
Read the next two parts of the story, Riding into battle on a stranger's back and "Why was he taken?"
The story gives three reasons why little Ngatau was captured.
Team up with a classmate and use this link to Ngatau's capture PDF to work out the most likely reason.
Compare your decisions with another pair.
The Fox family mystery
Ngatau Omahuru would soon become the adopted son of the Prime Minister of New Zealand. Read Enter the Fox. It tells you how.
Ngatau spent three years in the "Native Hostelry" in Wellington. This was a hostel for Maori so why he went there can only be guessed.
Perhaps someone thought the hostel would be like an orphanage for Ngatau, with adults there to look after him. Perhaps they thought his parents really had been killed and didn't really know what to do with him.
And why did William Fox wait three years and then adopt Ngatau? Fox is described as a "self centered" man- that is someone who thinks of himself before others. Why then did he adopt Ngatau and give him a good home?
Solve the mystery. Think, pair and share your ideas.
Two mothers who loved him
Read on now. The next two parts of the story are called The boy now known as William and The biggest question of all.
Find out how Ngatau's real family found out that their son was still alive and why they finally decided that for now, there was nothing they could really do to get him back.
Imagine the differences between growing up in South Taranaki village in the early 1870s and growing up as the Prime Minister's son in Wellington.
Click here and try the activity.
The working world
William Fox had adopted Ngatau and now he wanted to get rid of him. Find out how the crafty old Fox does this. Read the next two parts of the story, A punishment is delivered and Another new life begins.
So Ngatau becomes a law clerk and ends up working in the Maori land court. It is now the 1870s and by the time he steps into court there are all sorts of dodgy land deals to sort out.
Read A complete and utter mess to find out what the land court had to deal with.
A question of land
Land issues became tricky to work out. Land was sold by people that didn't own it and new owners didn't want to give it up because they had paid good money for it.
More and more settlers were arriving in New Zealand and many wanted land. They looked to the Government for a solution. A land court was set up to make some decisions.
Become land court judges in a small group. Look here.
The great reunion
Read Bitter sweet reunion now to find out what happens when Ngatau returns to his village ten years after he was snatched from the bush.
Protests and action
The rest of the story tells us how Government troops dealt with peaceful protestors.
Read the next three parts up to The curtain falls and find the clues in the story that tell readers these things:
- The land protests were peaceful.
- There were ordinary people that thought land issues could only be solved by force.
- Sir William Fox and his son were now on opposite sides.
- Even friends of the settlers were treated unfairly.
- There were those in Government who would invent new laws to get their own way.
The settlers come first!
Maori called him Bryce the Murderer. One hundred years later the New Zealand Encyclopedia said the things listed below about the same man- John Bryce.
Decide if Taranaki Maori from the 1870s would agree with each point in the summary below.
- Fellow politicians called him "an excellent Native Minister".
- His friends were absolutely loyal in their support.
- His enemies regarded him as stupid and crude.
- He felt keenly for white settlers' needs.
- He was incapable of understanding the grievances of the Maoris.
The story ends
Finish the story now and write an epitaph for the gravestones of Sir William Fox and William Fox Omahuru.
An epitaph usually begins "Here lies the body of … " with a few more words below that give those that read the headstone an idea of the type of person that lies below.
Fast Forward to 2005
The issues from this week's story are still being settled today.
On Sunday, July 31, 2005 the Crown signed a $14.9 million settlement with Ngati Mutunga at the Urenui Marae in North Taranaki. Ngati Mutunga was the fourth Taranaki iwi to sign.
Treaty Negotiations Minister, Mark Burton said that the people of Ngati Mutunga suffered from confiscation and warfare at the hands of the crown. "This had a devastating effect on their welfare, economy, social and economic development".
An apology was made to the Ngati Mutunga people and the settlement package was said to reflect Ngati Mutanga's traditional, historical, cultural, and spiritual associations to places and sites.
The Onaero and Urenui Domains have been handed back. Holiday makers still have the right to lease the land their baches stand on. The Council will still look after the land. The land beneath the Urenui and Uruti Schools was also returned.
One hundred and fifty iwi and community members attended the signing. Their ancestors were among those that saw their land disappear.
The day was dark and cloudy leading up to the signing. Afterwards the sun came out and the clouds moved from the mountain.
Rewind answers
1. True. This was the time of the gold rushes and plenty of people came to New Zealand to make their fortunes.
2. False. This happened alright but the Government didn't start doing it until the 1870s. Private companies and Provincial Governments had done it before that. All groups wanted workers in New Zealand-that's why they paid the fare.
3. True, especially in the South Island where farming was excellent.
4. False. Most were married and if they were single when they arrived in New Zealand, they were married soon after-especially if they went to the goldfields.
5. True and this why war broke out in New Zealand.
Word watch answers
1b, 2a, 3a, 4b, 5a, 6b, 7a, 8b, 9a, 10a
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